Application Materials

The following material is required from all applicants to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program:

1. Personal Statement Essay
2. Previous Research Experience Essay
3. Proposed Plan of Research Essay
4. 3 Reference Letters
   
5. Academic Transcripts
6. GRE scores - recommended, but NOT required

Personal Statement

Important questions to ask yourself before starting the essay:

1. Why are you fascinated by your research area?
2. What examples of leadership skills and unique characteristics do you bring to your chosen field?
3. What personal and individual strengths do you have that make you a qualified applicant?
4. How will receiving the fellowship contribute to your career goals?

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Previous Research Experience

Important questions to ask yourself before starting the essay:

1. What are all of your applicable experiences?
2. For each experience, what were the key questions, methodology, findings, and conclusions?
3. Did you work in a team and/or independently?
4. How did you assist in the analysis of results?

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Proposed Plan of Research

Important questions to ask yourself before starting the essay:

1. What issues in the scientific community are you most passionate about?
2. Do you possess the technical knowledge and skills necessary for conducting this work, or will you have sufficient mentoring and training to complete the study?  
3. Is this plan feasible for the allotted time and institutional resources?
4. How will my research contribute to the "big picture" outside the academic context?
5. How can I draft a plan using the specified research proposal format?

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Reference Letters

Applicants are required to submit three reference letters. Reference writers should use letterhead, if possible, and include the following information: Name and Title of reference writer, Department, and Institution or Organization.

The reference letter should provide details explaining the nature of the relationship to the applicant, comments on the applicant's potential and prior research experiences, statements about the applicant's academic potential and prior research experiences, statements about the applicant's proposed research, and any other information to enable review panels to evaluate the application according to the NSF Merit Review Criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.

Applicants can improve their chances of obtaining strong reference letters by doing the following:

1. Choose your references carefully; choose people that can speak to your abilities and potential, rather than someone with a prominent title
2. Provide referees sufficient time to write a strong letter
3. Discuss the application and share your essays with them
4. Inform them that reference letters should reflect both your “intellectual merit” and “broader impacts”
5. Track submission of letters using your status page in the FastLane application module - if necessary, remind referees about deadline.

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Academic Transcripts

Your academic transcript is the evaluators' opportunity to view the courses you have taken, allowing them to determine your level of preparation for your proposed plan of research.  Thus, it is a significant component of a complete application.

An academic transcript is required for every institution you have listed in the application module.  Please be aware you are only required to list the institution from which you have completed your Baccalaureate degree, as well as any institutions from which you have completed any graduate coursework. If you are in your first semester of graduate school, you do not need to submit a transcript for your graduate institution.

Transcripts must be received by the field of study application deadline and submitted to the GRF Operations Center in hard copy via postal mail, express service, or courier to:

GRF Operations Center
Suite T-50,
1818 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: 866-673-4737

NOTE: You can view the status of your transcripts (Received/Not Received) by logging into your FastLane account and checking your application status.

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GRE Scores

GRE General Examination

While the submission of GRE scores is not a required component of the GRFP application, it is a recommended to create a strong application. 

It should be noted that applicants will NOT be evaluated positively or negatively based solely on their GRE performance.  However, with the significant number of applicants in each of the disciplines, presenting your GRE scores can be used as a means to differentiate your application from others.

GRE Subject Examination

Reporting one's GRE Subject score is not a requirement for submission of the GRFP application.  However, as in the case of the General examination, reporting the score does serve as a good supplement to a strong application. 

Applicants can opt to have NSF pay Subject Test registration fees for the November 8th, 2008 examination. There are two conditions which must be met: (1) the NSF Fellowship application is the primary purpose, so the scores will not be released to any other institution until after May 1, 2009; and (2) the GRE registration form for the November test is received at ETS no later than October 3rd, 2008.

If you are interested in having the NSF pay for your Subject Test registration, please mail the Request for Payment of GRE Subject Test Fee form (available in the FastLane module after the application opens) along with the GRE Subject Test registration form to:

ETS - GRE
Box 382013
Pittsburgh, PA 15251-8013

NOTE: No online registration is available.

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A droplet of clotted human blood plasma flows through a winding microfluidic channel, surrounded by an inert carrier fluid.  This system was used to demonstrate that small quantities of activators initiate blood clotting only in plasma that is mixed slowly or not at all, and that rapid mixing slows or prevents blood clotting.  This finding may explain some of the variability seen in clinical clotting assays used in hospitals to diagnose diseases, and suggests such assays may be improved by controlling the rate of mixing.

Image is courtesy of Fellow Rebecca Pompano from the University of Chicago.